


Cracks

by aNGELICmURDER



Series: It's August Though [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 08:10:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7676788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aNGELICmURDER/pseuds/aNGELICmURDER
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven and Amethyst hunt for Pearl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cracks

In retrospect, everyone wondered why Garnet never told anyone or even if she herself knew what was going on with Pearl. 

Pearl, diligent, detailed, borderline obsessed spent her every day going through the temple in a method more scripted and than she usually did. Every sun rise she would train, spear in hand with a light blue hologram facing off opposite her. The hologram only lasting an hour every day before being chopped down by its maker. Next she would find herself in the kitchen, cooking. A skill she learned only recently after taking note of what Steven would eat when he first started living with them. Finally she would finish her day organising the temple, categorising every trophy Steven brought back from their missions, cleaning out the old dusty relics of the centuries that the Crystal Gems had lived on the earth.

Despite all of this, her new routine never got in the way of the mission, finding corrupted gems and protecting the Earth. She chided Amethyst as much as she usually did and her teachings with Connie were still focused and on time. So it didn’t seem strange when it took Pearl missing breakfast one day to throw everything off.

Steven was still in his Unfamiliar Familiar PJs when he shuffled downstairs, eyes half lidded and hand rubbing away the left over sleep. Amethyst was at the table, shovelling fist full after fistful of dry cereal into her mouth. She propped her head up at the sound of footsteps and laughed, bits of cereal flying over the counter and sticking to the table top. “Hey Ste-man! I see you’re up. How’s it hanging?”

“Oh it’s ok, just tired.” Steven scratched his head, pulling a chair up and sitting down. “Have you seen Peral? She usually finished breakfast by now.”

“Dunno” Amethyst shrugged. “She’s probably in her room meditating or something.”

“But she promised she’d make me Berry Waffle today.” Steven folded his arms. And frowned, sleeping leaving his body in the wake of this new mystery. “It’s not like her to break a promise. I think we should go look for her.”

Amethyst looked up, frowning before jumping onto the ground. “Yea, you’re right. P’s a lot of things but she wouldn’t just wonder off like that.”

“Yea we gotta go find her!” Steven started running up to his room, ditching most of his PJs in favour of his favourite Pink shirt and a pair of jeans. “She could be in trouble.”

 

Once Steven and Amethyst made their way into the temple they noticed how polished the entrance way was, gone was the dull shine from the rock, replaced with a near blinding light of wax shine. Steven looked around, stars lighting up his eyes as he slide, laughing to himself and whooping over the wax. “Wow, it’s like an Ice rink in doors!”

“Cool let me try.” Amethyst transformed into a sled and whooped across the floor behind Steven, knocking him onto her back and taking them further into the temple. 

“Pearl!” Steven yelled, hands cupped around his mouth. “Pearl! Where are you?”

Amethyst called out too, arms transformed into a makeshift megaphone. “Pearl! Pearlio!”

They slid up to the warp pad where Garnet stood, fingers dancing over the console pad as the pad began to hum and awake. “There you two are. I was wondering when you’d get here.”

“Garnet!” Steven up jumped up and ran to hug Garnet laughing as he was enveloped into a giant hug. “Pearl’s missing and Amethyst and I are trying to find her.”

Garnet smiled but Steven couldn’t see anything happy in it at all. “It’s nice of you to try and help your friend Steven.”

“Garnet… is something wrong with Pearl?”

Garnet rubbed the top of his head. “Sometimes Steven, a person goes through things that they don’t need help with and all you can do is support them when the time comes.”

“I don’t get it.” Garnet smiled back at him again. 

That sad-not-sad smile was back again. “You will when it’s time.” Garnet stepped onto the warp pad. “Ameythst. I’m going to visit Rose’s Garden, make sure you look after Steven.”

“Right.” The purple gem, nodded solemnly.

“Garnet?” Steven looked concerned from one gem to the other. “Amethyst?”

The warp pad zinged and Garnet flashed out of sight.

 

“What do you think Garnet was talking about?” Steven asked.

Amethyst shrugged but her face was cloudy with her thoughts. “I can’t say Ste-Man but I think we should check out Pearl’s room just in case she’s sleeping.”

Steven laughed, nervous cracking it around the edge. “But Gems don’t sleep right?”

Amethyst laughed, “Of course we do dude. I’m a gem and I sleep all the time.”

“Yea, you’re probably right. Pearl could be sleeping.”

Once they stood outside Pearl’s room they noticed something strange. A piles, filled with boxes labeled in the scratchy scrawl hand writing that Steven had seen Centipeedle use before. “Maybe she’s cleaning her room?”

From the look Amethyst gave him Steven knew that wouldn’t be the case. Pearl was always organised, but never had she left her stuff lying around no matter how neatly the boxes were stacked. “What do they say?”

Amethyst shrugged. “Don’t know. Never learned to read Gem.”

“Oh.” Steven walked up to the door, noticing for the first time the star with each gem’s respective door had a dull gem. The Red, blue, purple and pink dots shone brightly but the white spot, usually lustrous in the lighting of the temple was dull and almost faded into the star’s limb. Steven’s mouth dropped as he rushed up the pad and into the door, only to find himself in a large room, void of any of the water features and rivers that Pearl was fond of.

A strangled sound escaped Steven’s mouth as he ran around the room, his path getting more and more cloudy with tears as he reached the far wall and pounded on the pale grey. “What happened to Pearl’s room?

Amethyst walked in, eyes wide and footsteps shaky. “I don’t. It should be tied to her gem. Even if she got poofed, her room shouldn’t disappeared.”

“What if she got shattered!” 

“Steven-!”

“We have to find her!” Steven ran out of the room and back to the warp pad, programing the last co-ordinates that Garnet punched in between chesty tears and gasping breaths. “Garnet would know. She can look for her with Future vision!”

“Ste-“ The warp pad fired up before Amethyst could jump onto the pad. 

 

Steven found himself at the bottom of the mountain where his mother’s Garden once thrived. Now it wasn’t as dilapidated as when he first saw it but it was growing and healing but he was too caught up in his made rush to find two of the women he considered his mothers to take notice of the beauty growing around him. He took off running, shifting his body mass so it’s lighter than air, propelling him father down the road as he screamed for Garnet and Pearl in alternating measure.

“Garnet!” He screamed, crashing hard into a pillar that brought it’s arms down to pull him into a hug. 

“Steven it’s ok. I’m here. What’s wrong?”

Steven sniffed, rubbing his face into Garnett’s chest babbling out exactly what he saw and what happened as Garnet soothed him.

“I can heal her! I can heal her if I can find her shards so please.” Steven sniffed and rubbed at his nose. “Just use your future vision.”

“There’s no need for that Steven.” Garnet muttered, picking up the boy and walking on, giving Amethyst a nod as she rolled up beside them. “I’ve found Pearl.”

Steven instantly perked up, “Where is she maybe we could save her!”

Garnet shook her. “I’m sorry Steven but that’s not possible right now.”

“What do you mean?” Steven peeked up from Garnet’s arms and sighed. “I have my healing spit back.”

“Steven. I don’t think whatever happened to Pearl could be fixed with spit.” Amethyst said.

“But-“

“No Amethyst is right. What’s happening now is something we have to come to terms with, Pearl already has we just need to go give her our good byes and make peace with that.”

By the time Garnet stopped they were on top of a hill, Pearl was sitting at the apex, a light smile on her face as her body, faceted, began to crumple.

“Pearl!”

“Oh man, what happened to you Pearl.” Amethyst ran up to her and knelt beside the fracturing gem, arms reaching up to touch her but not quite making contact.

Pearl smiled and pulled Steven into a hug, laughing with a bit of a wince as he tried to wipe saliva over the cracking parts of her exterior. “Steven stop that, you’re going to get sick.”

“But I can fix this. I can fix it.”

Pearl smiled down at him, a tender look in her eyes. “I’m ok. I’m fine.”

“No you’re not! You’re breaking!” Steven continued wiping saliva over Pearl’s body gasping as more pieces fell off. “Why isn’t this working?!”

Pearl tried to keep the smile on her face even as Steven bawled his eyes out in her chest.

“Please. Steven it’s ok. It’s just something every Gem has to go through. Garnet will tell you more later, I don’t have much time left. I just want you to know how proud I am of you and how much you’ve progressed with using your gem.”

Steven sniffled in her chest squeezing onto her as she continued to fall apart.

“Amethyst.” The Purple gem looked up but refused to meet Pearl’s eyes, squeezing them hard as she tried not. “I’m so sorry it took us this long to be friends.”

Amethyst laughed, wiping her eyes when they tears flooded over. “No worries P-Dawg. You know homeworld. Messing with everyone’s heads.”

Pearl laughed along with her. Bringing Amethyst into a hug. “ Behave for Garnet you two. Steven, brush your teeth.”

The last bit came out as garbled as the bottom of Pearl’s face fell away. 

“Come on you two, over here.” Garnet pulled the two sobbing gems to her side as Pearl smiled.

“Take care of them for me Garnet.”


End file.
